


Autumn Leaves

by violet_sunflowers



Series: Peter Parker: The Gen Z Chronicles [12]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Autumn, Canada, Cute Peter Parker, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Peter Parker, Road Trips, Sleepy Peter Parker, Stressed Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26829388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violet_sunflowers/pseuds/violet_sunflowers
Summary: Peter failed a chemistry test and that sent him into a spiral of obsessing over school and grades over his health. Thankfully he has Tony Stark in his corner who decides to take him up north for a much needed vacation.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Peter Parker: The Gen Z Chronicles [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749952
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Autumn Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a 2 parter because it for way too long for one chapter. I'm really happy with it though.
> 
> There's also an incredibly niche fandom (is it even a fandom, idk) reference in this. Like, super niche. See if you can spot it 😉
> 
> Sidenote, I'm Canadian so all the landscape I'm describing are things I walk by everyday.
> 
> I've also been really inspired by the fall leaves outside right now.

The crisp late-September air passed through the thick fabric of his suit creating a gentle breeze for him.

Peter wanted to stroll through Central Park so badly. He hadn't been to that part of the city in so long. He had heard it was beautiful this time of year. 

He could probably swing there if he really wanted to, but he didn't have enough time right now. All his teachers had randomly assigned projects and announced test dates that were all scrunched close together.

He was working over time. At school he brought his A-game and took notes as best as he could, acing every test and quiz that came his way. When he got out of school he would patrol for at least a few hours. On lab days he would head over doing homework on the bus or subway, or in Happy's car if he came to pick him up. In the lab he would make sure to work extra hard on whatever he was doing since he had sprained his hand in the summer and hadn't been able to work on anything for a few weeks. He was behind and he was only finally starting to catch up. Unfortunately because of his current homework load he had needed to stop doing movie nights instead opting to work on his school. Sleeping was the last thing on the list. He didn't normally hey more than 4 hours on school nights. 

It was a lot, but he needed to do this. Next year he would he applying to colleges and he needed to show that he was dedicated and committed to his studies if he wanted to get somehere good. 

He decided to take a minute to just relax. He swung to a nearby rooftop for just a few minutes. Unfortunately just as he for comfortable Karen told him about a bank robbery a few streets down.

He stared at the test paper in his hands. 42 percent. On chemistry. His best subject. This wasn't good. If this was his est subject, how would his weaker subjects look.

It was his fault really. He had been neglecting chemistry lately since he had been able to finish the work in class and had so many other things that demanded his attention.

Shame pooled in his gut. How had he let himself fail. Was he falling behind on anything else. He didn't know. He had been busy lately, but that was no excuse. He needed to be able to get into a decent college. He needed to prove himself. That he could do this. Mr Stark couldn't find out. His mentor had trusted him with so much. If he learned about this test he would definitely trust Peter less. He needed to do better. He needed to push. He needed to go even further beyond. 

He decided then and there that he would need to make some adjustments to what he was doing.

School and patrolling were the most important things. He made sure to carry around his homework and hooked up Karen to his school work so she could text to speech anything he could and had her start quizzing him on what he had learned that day. That had been a surprisingly easy to set up, with a voice recorder on his phone that activated in class and then deleted automatically so to respect his teachers privacy.

Sleep had been cut down significantly. Especially since he had made himself 2 rules. No falling asleep until all homework was finished. And no falling asleep until he had gone over each subject for at least 30 minutes on top of his homework.

Last he checked his grades were thriving, and it had barely been a week since he had started all this.

Thursday afternoon he found himself stumbling into the elevator, a day early for his lab time as per Mr Stark's request. 

"Hi Mr Stark," he said waving to the man from across the room once he got there.

"Hey kid, you feeling alright, you don't look so good," Tony said turning and immediately noticing that something was off.

The kid looked dead in his feet. Dark circles were smudged beneath his eyes. Skin slightly pale, a much different tune to the warm summer glow he had been sporting when he had last seen him. He was slouched down and his feet looked like they could barley hold him up. 

"I'm fine Mr Stark, don't worry about it," he slurred slightly.

Tony stood up from his workbench walking towards Peter concerned.

Peter watched him, his mind not really processing what he saw. He saw that Mr Stark had stood up and was walking towards him, but he didn't actually understand that Mr Stark had stood up and walked towards him.

When Mr Stark got to him he immediately went and felt Peter's forhead checking for signs of a fever.

"I'm fine Mr Stark, I told you," Peter said weakly swatting his hand away.

"You don't feel warm," Mr Stark said mostly to himself.

"Peter doesn't have a fever, however his biometrics indicate that Peter hasn't slept very well recently," Friday chimed in.

Tony jumped a bit. 

"Thanks Fri, a warning though next time, my heart can only take so much," he said laughing a bit.

He took a closer look at his protège. Textbook symptoms of tiredness. He was an expert on the matter after all.

"Hear that kiddo, Friday says it's nap time for Spider-babies," he said ruffling his hair a bit before gently taking hold of his arm to steer him back to the elevator.

"M'fine, I'll sleep more tonight if it makes you feel better," Peter mumbled tugging his arm a bit.

"Good thing you don't have a choice here. Kid, look at yourself, you look like too haven't slept at all this week, you need a nap," Mr Stark said firmly.

Since Peter was so tired he didn't actually resist very much. It was an easy task getting him from the lab to his room. The hard part was convincing him to lie down.

Once he had successfully gotten Peter tucked in, Tony left the room thinking that Peter would just fall asleep from there. He walked to the living room and sat down on his favorite arm chair.

"Friday, get me hooked up to Karen so I can see what Peter's been up to lately," he said taking out his Starkpad.

"Right away boss," she said.

Once Karen had connected to him he pulled up his scans from the past week. He wasn't happy with what he saw.

According to Karen by analyzing his movements and different hormones and chemicals in his blood Peter had been averaging 2-4 hours of sleep a night for the past week. On top of that he had been studying over-time if his reports were to be believed. A further look revealed his blood sugar had been consistently low. 

Not good. He and Peter would need to have a talk later. His habits were gonna make him crash and burn sooner rather than later.

"Friday, how's Peter doing," he asked looking towards the ceiling already planning what he was going to say to Peter when he woke up.

"Peter appears to be doing homework right now," she said calmly. 

Tony immediately jumped. Nope, not on his watch. He quickly walked to his room not even knocking when he walked in.

The sight in front of him tugged at his heartstrings. He didn't know what had set this off, but it was obvious that his kid needed help.

The bed was rumpled from when he had forced Peter into it earlier. His backpack looked like it had been ransacked with empty wrappers and pencils surrounding it while the books were scattered around the room.

Peter was hunched over the desk with a lone lamp on, scribbling furiously. His hair was a mess and his leg was bouncing up and down relentlessly and he could see the slight tremble in Peter's hands in the pauses between writing. 

"And just what do you think your doing," he said crossing the room with his arms crossed on his chest. 

"Homework," Peter mumbled not looking up from his books.

"Not anymore your not," Tony said plucking the pencil our his his hand, frowning at the lack of resistance. 

Peter looked up him blinking in confusion. When his eyes landed on the pencil in his mentors hand he scrunched his nose clearly trying to figure out how it had gotten there. 

He shrugged and then pulled out another pencil from his drawer.

Tony put a hand on his shoulder.

"Kid, I don't know what you're trying to do here, but you need to sleep right now," he said gently.

"I can't Mr Stark, I really can't," Peter said distracted. 

Tony ignored the protests from his knees and out himself at eyes level with Peter.

"Look at me bud, why can't you sleep," he said reaching out and cupping his head. 

When Peter met his eyes he could see that they were glassy with tears.

"You wouldn't understand," Peter said his voice wobbling. 

"Even if I don't, I'm sure I could help you," Tony told him, gently wiping away the tears that had started falling.

Peter looked down at the floor.

"I failed my chemistry test last week," Peter whispered shame dripping off every word. 

"So your solution was not sleeping," Tony asked him.

Peter mumbled something.

"What was that," Tony asked.

"I have to study, if I don't study I'll fail even more," he whispered still looks down at the floor the tears now flowing freely to the carpet beneath him.

Tony noticing the tears made a decision.

He stood up and gently tugged Peter up with him. Peter didn't resist and he was able to get him to bed. He tucked him in tightly leaving only his head poking out from underneath the blankets. 

"Friday, let me know the instant he gets up, he needs to sleep," Tony told Friday making sure Peter heard.

He hears Peter's whine of protest but it was obvious that he was exhausted since did didn't protest further.

Tony left the room staying by the door until he heard Peter snoring. 

He went to his room intent on making some phone calls. 

When Peter woke up he felt disoriented. The soft mattress, blanket and pillow was a far cry from him waking up on his desk chair using his textbook as a pillow.

Then he remembered, he had fallen asleep not about a quarter through his nightly studying. What he didn't know was how he got to his bed, but he knew that he definitely hasn't finished studying.

He jumped out of bed, ignoring the fog in his brain and started rummaging through his drawer.

"What are you looking for," came Mr Stark's voice from the doorway.

"I have homework," Peter answered not remembering last night. 

His hands kept rummaging through the desk, eventually going to find his backpack. His textbooks and notebooks were missing.

"Have you seen my things," he asked remembering that his mentor was at the door.

"Kid, we need to talk. Come to the kitchen," Mr Stark said.

Peter immediately felt worried. He stood up glancing around his room one last time to see if he could see his books before following his mentor.

When he got to the kitchen Mr Stark motioned for him to sit down. He put a few plates of food in front of him.

"Eat," was all he said shoving a fork into his hand.

Peter did as he was told. He was starving. There was a small stack of pancakes, fluffy waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon and some toast.

Mr Stark watched him the entire time handing him a napkin and refilling his juice when he finished it. Once he had finished all his food Mr Stark went to the living room motioning for Peter to do the same. 

"When you walked into the lab last night you looked absolutely dead on your feet so I decided to send you to bed. I'm looking through your biometrics to see if there's any reason why you might be so tired. Imagine my shock when I see that you're averaging 3 hours a night. And then I walk into your room to see you studying, care to explain," Mr Stark said fixing him with a stern look.

Peter looked down clasping his hands together in his lap.

"I failed a chemistry test last week. I'm supposed to be applying for colleges next year, I can't be failing anything,", Peter said.

"What was your plan, cause I see the reason even if I don't agree with it," Mr Stark asked. 

"Study, as much as I can, sleep only after I've finished that I have," Peter recited. 

"Your working yourself to death Pete. It's not healthy. I talked to May last night and we've agreed that you need a break," Mr Stark said.

"But I'll fall behind," Peter argued.

"I had Friday scan your homework last night, don't worry I didn't actually read it, and she said that you're actually a few weeks ahead," Mr Stark said to him.

Peter didn't know what to say to that. On some level he was aware that he was ahead. But he had gotten into such a good rhythm.

"I guess I can relax this weekend," Peter conceded. 

"All week," Mr Stark corrected. 

"What do you mean all week," Peter asked.

"Listen, when me and May talked last night we agreed that you need a long break. I have a business trip coming up in Canada for a week, and May thinks it would be best if you joined me. I've moved things around so I leave tomorrow," Mr Stark told him. 

"Ok," Peter said unsurley. 

"For now we're gonna just do nothing," Mr Stark said sitting down next to Peter wrapping a blanket around him. 

They decided to watch a movie. About 25 minutes in Peter started yawning. Tony pulled him closer to his side. 

He didn't know when his relationship with Peter had evolved into this. This loving caring relationship that had him silently awe-ing when he did something cute. Like when he shook his head making his curls bounce around to shake out the water after being in the rain. Or when he stopped to pet a puppy while on patrol. Or when he had found Peter napping on the couch while he had been waiting for him one day. But he didn't regret it. 

A little later he felt a weight drop on his shoulder. He looked down and saw that Peter had fallen asleep on his shoulder. The creases on his face had smoothed out with his curls dropping slightly over his forehead making him look years younger. 

Tony gently reached a hand out and stroked his curls, his heart filling up with so much love for the kid beside him.

When the movie ended and Peter was still asleep Tony decided to take the kid to bed.

He slowly got up and layed Peter down on the couch before reaching underneath him to lift him up.

He carried him to bed tucking him in the way he had last night.

He went to the living room and got Peter's soundproof headphones and slipped them on while he packed for him. Once he finished he took the headphones off and left the room. 

Peter walked into the kitchen for the second time that day, his hair sticking up in all directions.

"Hi Mr Stark," he said noticing the man at the counter.

"Hi sleeping beauty," Mr Stark said looking up from the paperwork in front of him. 

"What are you doing," Peter asked.

"Just some paperwork that Pepper wants me to do," he said.

"Where's my backpack, if I'm taking a week off I need to make sure that I don't fall behind," Peter said.

"Kid," Mr Stark started, "you need to understand that you need this break. No work, not at all. Your ahead anyways, don't worry about it." 

"But-," 

"But nothing," the man said firmly. 

Peter conceded and took a seat next to him.

"We can go out to eat tonight," Mr Stark said.

"Sounds good," Peter said. 

"Why don't you go play video games, I got you those consoles so you could forget about homework for a while," Mr Stark said. 

"Are you sure, they look pretty expensive," Peter said tentatively.

"Kid, I got them for you, have some fun," Mr Stark said smiling.

Peter went to his room and loaded up the Xbox. 

He spent the better part of the afternoon playing video games. He hasn't had this much fun in so long. Even before he went super intense he hadn't taken time to himself for so long. He was always on the go. Whether it was school or Spiderman or lab time. Or all 3 at once. It felt good to let go.

They had decided to drive up, leaving really early in the morning.

Peter slept most of the way but insisted that his mentor wake him up to see the sunrise. 

The fierce orange and gold rays of sun were a sight to behold. The gold gently melted into the skyline turning into a deep orange further along. When the sun eventually came up he marveled at the gentle neon of it, watching as it painted the landscape in in such a rich colour. The way it shone in the lake they passed.

"Mr Stark, you just passed a McDonald's," Peter said a little while after passing the border. They were going to get breakfast, or so Peter had thought.

"I know kid, but we're in Canada, we've got to do as the Canadians do," Mr Stark said with a smile from the wheel.

They drove for a bit more before Peter finally understood what he meant by that.

'Tim Hortons' the read cursive font proudly declared.

He drove them through the drive-thru and ordered a bunch of things with the word 'breakfast' in it. 

Peter enjoyed it all. 

When he cracked open the lid if the hot drink that Mr Stark had ordered for him he got confused.

"Hey Mr Stark, what is this," he said showing him.

"That's a white hot chocolate, they're pretty good," his mentor said.

Peter took a tentative sip. It was delicious. Rich and creamy and a taste that reminded him of the white part of a Hershey's cookies and cream. 

They had a few hours to go, but they finally got to a small town. The streets were narrow and cramped, but there were planters on every street corner filled with brightly coloured flowers. 

He drove them a little past the town into a forest.

Peter looked out the window in awe. He'd never seen such colours before.

The maple trees were a vibrant shade of red. A red that showed you the anger of the earth in its purest form. The Kentucky Coffee trees looked like they were dropping pure gold into the forest floor. There were trees of bright furious created and easy in between the golds and the reds. The rich brown trunks of the trees looked sturdy and wise. Somehow even the dead leaves on the ground looked vibrant.

Finally the cabin came into view. It was stunning. It was a cozy wood cabin surrounded by the forest with a large pond next to it. The pond perfectly reflected the blue sky and fluffy white clouds. 

It was beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> A few more characters will join the father-son duo, any guesses.
> 
> Also, I will he starting a collab crossover soon with a friend of mine. Super excited, it's so far fromy comfort zone, but I hope it turns out good.


End file.
